My dog, who is just shy of two years old, absolutely hates it when people sneeze. She will be fast asleep and if someone sneezes she wakes up in a panic and barks at them as if to say, "No! You're not allowed to do that!!"

We have tried to tell her "NO!" but she keeps doing it. Any suggestions on how to get her to stop reacting to people's sneezes? I am aiming to put her into a dog therapy program but if she reacts to people who sneeze, I don't want her barking at elders (if the dog therapy program is in a retirement home). She is a superb dog but if I could just get her to stop reacting to sneezes, we would be set!

My dog, who is just shy of two years old, absolutely hates it when people sneeze. She will be fast asleep and if someone sneezes she wakes up in a panic and barks at them as if to say, "No! You're not allowed to do that!!"

We have tried to tell her "NO!" but she keeps doing it. Any suggestions on how to get her to stop reacting to people's sneezes? I am aiming to put her into a dog therapy program but if she reacts to people who sneeze, I don't want her barking at elders (if the dog therapy program is in a retirement home). She is a superb dog but if I could just get her to stop reacting to sneezes, we would be set!

I would have her ears checked to made sure she does not have an infection. Loud sounds hurt my dog ears when he had an ear infection.

My dog hates it when I cough - always has. His hearing is fantastic. He could be asleep in the basement, I'm upstairs, and cough quietly into the blanket and he's up to see me in seconds. Weird. I live with it

We had a dog that hated it when you sneezed, along with telephones ringing, the squeaky noise from cleaning mirrors, shouting, etc. We tried everything to get her to stop, nothing worked. We gave up and lived with it. Let us know if you find a cure.

We would recommend one of two options.
1. You can sneeze and hand him a treat so sneezes become positive associations. Have him on a leash so he doesn't run away and bark at you. But you have to be sure you aren't rewarding the bark. So start with him licking at the treat and then sneeze but keep the treat in front of him. Repeat, repeat, repeat. He should react less and less each time, until he is not reacting at all. Then you have to practice this often - perhaps a few times a day until he is no longer upset with the sneezing.
2. You need to find a recording or make a recording of sneezing and play it repeatedly at a low volume throughout the day. Increase the volume as he adjusts, until you can play it fairly loudly and he no longer reacts. You are desensitizing him to the sneezes.

My dog hates it when I cough - always has. His hearing is fantastic. He could be asleep in the basement, I'm upstairs, and cough quietly into the blanket and he's up to see me in seconds. Weird. I live with it

I am not talking about the dog hearing, I am talking about ears infections in dogs ears. When people have an earaches loud sounds can be painful. Dogs can hear a lot better than people and loud sounds can be very painful when they do have an infection in their ears . My dog was very bothered loud sounds with his ear infection. .

LOL, sorry for laughing, but I find it kind of funny. I was going to suggest cueing the sneeze to mean a treat too. Surely you can fake a sneeze for training purposes?

But I do have another idea. Just how much sneezing is going on, anyway? I've noticed for myself that the fan coming on, whether for heat or AC, often makes me sneeze. I theorize it blows dust out of the vents or disturbs dust in the house and that dust gets into my nose and makes me sneeze. So perhaps a vent cleaning and more frequent vacuuming might help limit the human sneezing?

LOL, sorry for laughing, but I find it kind of funny. I was going to suggest cueing the sneeze to mean a treat too. Surely you can fake a sneeze for training purposes?

But I do have another idea. Just how much sneezing is going on, anyway? I've noticed for myself that the fan coming on, whether for heat or AC, often makes me sneeze. I theorize it blows dust out of the vents or disturbs dust in the house and that dust gets into my nose and makes me sneeze. So perhaps a vent cleaning and more frequent vacuuming might help limit the human sneezing?

maybe the dog needs to bushed more often to get the pollen off it fur. I notice when I bush my dog I can smell pollen on him and it made me feel like
sneezing.

Hahaha yes I have faked a sneeze and she freaks out.. begins barking hysterically. We lived with it for the time we have had her but because I want to get her into the dog therapy program, I'd rather her not react (hysterically barking) when people sneeze (especially if she were in a old folks home! Yikes!) Her ears are crystal clean so I know it's not an infection.

I was reading somewhere else that providing a treat so she learns it's a 'positive' association with sneezing that it may help. If it's little tiny sneezes she looks at you but if it's the loud "ACHOOOOOOO!" that's when she freaks out. It's not that we sneeze often lol but both of us sneeze loudly. Neither one of us really care if she reacts to our sneezing (in our home) but as I said, I would like to get her into a dog therapy program so if she's visiting folks in a retirement home and someone happens to sneeze, I'd rather her NOT react and have someone scold her. I would like to get it under control BEFORE bringing her into a home to visit seniors. When we sneeze and she reacts, we tell her "NO" to the barking and she gets herself worked up even more so adding the treats to give her a positive association would be a good idea. It would get her to stop barking

As I said she is a superb dog other than her silly reaction when people sneeze. I think if we can get her to think of people sneezing as a positive thing then all will be fixed.